Finance ministry mulls tax on multiple property ownership

Nguyen Duc Chi, deputy minister of finance, said at a press conference last Friday that the ministry supports this tax policy, which targets those who own more than one property but leave them unoccupied.

"The finance ministry will consider and research policies to improve the property market’s transparency."

But this goal could not be achieved through tax policies alone and other planning and land-related regulations are needed, he added.

The tax was recently proposed to the government by the Ministry of Construction amid a surge in property prices.

Suburban land plots in some localities have been sold at over VND100 million (US$4,060) per square meter in auctions, multiple times higher than their starting price.

The Vietnam Association of Real Estate Brokers had previously also suggested the same tax.

The finance ministry had said last year that it was considering incorporating the tax into the Real Estate Tax Law, but made no progress on it.